Angel Studios’ “Sound of Freedom,” starring Jim Caviezel, overwhelmingly claimed the No. 1 box office spot ahead of the highly anticipated Harrison Ford blockbuster “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” on July 4.
“Sound of Freedom” is based on the true story of U.S. federal agent Tim Ballard, who is played by Caviezel. The film depicts Ballard’s rescue of a young boy who was stolen from his father by human traffickers and forced into child sex slavery.
After rescuing the boy, Agent Ballard discovers that the boy’s sister was also captured and taken to Colombia, leading Ballard to quit his job to embark on a dangerous mission to rescue her.
During the film, Caviezel’s character is asked why he would risk his life to rescue a child he doesn’t even know. He replies, “Because God’s children are not for sale.”
According to Box Office Mojo, “Sound of Freedom” brought in $14,242,063 on July 4—the film’s opening day. The fifth installment of the Indiana Jones blockbuster franchise, which was released on Friday, June 30, recorded only $11,698,989 on Independence Day.
An even more astonishing fact is that the faith-based film was only released in 2,634 theaters, compared to the Indiana Jones film being in 4,600. Although “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” has made over $83 million in the past five days, many consider it to be a box office failure, due to its $140 million projections for the July 4 weekend.
“Sound of Freedom” received an A+ CinemaScore and was part of Angel Studios’ Pay It Forward program, which allows a person to purchase a ticket for someone else who might otherwise not be able to afford one at the time.
In a recent press release, Angel Studios shared that $2.6 million in “Sound of Freedom” ticket purchases have come from the Pay It Forward program, with $11.5 million coming directly from box office ticket sales.
Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon said, “Thanks to fans around the country, ‘Sound of Freedom’ earned the top spot as America’s number one movie on Independence Day.”
“We’ve received numerous messages telling us theaters are either packed or sold out,” Harmon said. “This movie has now taken on a life of its own to become something more than that, a grassroots movement.”
“With an A+ CinemaScore rating, we’re the top-rated movie in America, and we’re going to see word-of-mouth spread even further going into the weekend,” Harmon’s statement concluded. “The world needs to see ‘Sound of Freedom,’ and we know that our biggest competitive advantage—our incredible fans and investors—are going to make sure that happens.”
As the film depicts, Ballard was inspired to rescue over 120 victims while he was in Columbia. Ballard and his team also arrested more than a dozen human traffickers before leaving Columbia.
A statement at the end of “Sound of Freedom” notes that there “are more humans trapped in slavery today any other time in history…including when slavery was legal.” Unfortunately, “millions of these slaves are children.”
